TinySprite Snack Sandwich Bento

TinySprite Snack Sandwich Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

This was supposed to be a snack bento for TinySprite to keep her busy after school while her brother finished up his homework. It turns out she didn't have a big enough appetite after school to finish this, though. She put away the mini-wiches and the egg, but that was it. I cut a cucumber cup for blackberries, and tossed some grapes, strawberries and carrots into the mix. I also dyed a quail egg in beet juice after forming a heart shape using Anna The Red's method here. It was tricky, seeing as how quail eggs are rather smallish and kind of delicate. If you press too hard you'll crack the egg, which I kind of did as you can see. I added a nori face and some wings, which is my current favorite thing to do ever since I found these cool wing picks. I rarely make cutout sandwiches, because I'm not one to save crusts and odd pieces of bread for croutons or breadcrumbs or whatever it is you're supposed to save all those ends for, and then it's such a waste. But I wanted to use the little mini sandwich cutters that I received from a bentopal (aren't they cute?). I know other charaben makers are asked what they do with their leftover food scraps. After making these little peanut butter and jam cuties, I was suddenly approached by the resident scrap disposal, who often makes an appearance when he hears exclamations coming from the kitchen, such as "Oh no!", "Oops!", and "Crap!" (or variations thereupon). How can I refuse a face like this?

Mac and Ka-broc-cheese-rizo Bento

Mac and Ka-broc-cheese-rizo Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

My kids have been requesting mac and cheese, so I decided to make a giant batch to last them a couple days. They can seriously put away this stuff. As usual, I packed the portions in their thermal food jars; this one is TinySprite's Hello Kitty Thermos brand jar, which holds 10 ounces and has served us well throughout most of her preschool lunch career. I know it doesn't keep the food as hot as long as MisterMan's Stanley food jar, because I've done a nonscientific, side-by-side comparison using hot water and a thermometer. It doesn't really matter for her since she eats within 3 hours or so after I've packed it, but my bigger concern now is that she may be outgrowing this little jar. The last few times I used it, it's come home completely empty -- which is good, of course -- but it just makes me wonder if I could pack a little bit more for her whether she'd eat more.

I've used several different recipes for mac and cheese (like Pioneer Woman's version here and Bacon Mac and Cheese here). Today's mac batch contains three extra ingredients. Can you guess what they might be? Soyrizo, diced kabocha and broccoli! It's not exactly a secret; I've done it before, and anyway I told them I'd put it in, and their reactions were mixed. TS: Yayyy! MM: Did you cut the kabocha super small and mix it in really well? Mmmkay. Can you tell my boy might not appreciate the finer aspects of this wonderful squash as much as my girl? I assured him I did. The other key is to use a lot of cheese. I mean a LOT. Like a whole pound or more. They love the gooey stuff, and I don't think they even noticed that it was whole wheat elbow macaroni. So there. The other container held all fruit, since I was pretty happy with the vegetable load they got in the mac: strawberries, kiwi, cara cara oranges, blueberries, blackberries, and grapes. And, there's a heart. Because it's the month of love. ^_^

Mac and Ka-Brocco-Cheese-Rizo Method/Recipe (I know, not a great name. But can you think of something catchier?)

Cook 8oz (or more if you like) whole wheat elbow macaroni, 10-12 minutes or until just al dente. Drain.
Steam or microwave 5 slices kabocha (or more) and one head of broccoli until softened.
Chop into small dice.
Whisk: 1C milk, 2T whole wheat flour, 1tsp dry mustard, and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 6-8 minutes.
Add the diced kabocha and broccoli.
Add a half link (or more, if you like) soyrizo. Stir it all in well.
Add: 1C (or 2C, or more) shredded cheddar, parmesan, or whatever cheese you happen to like. Stir.
Add more cheese if you like it cheesier.
Add pasta, stir to completely incorporate.

Added to Allergy-Free Lunchbox Love.

Hummus Rollup Bento

Hummus Rollup Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

What's that? Didn't we just have rollups? Um, yes. I wish I had taken a cross-section photo of this one to show you the goodies inside. I smeared a whole wheat tortilla with homemade hummus (I made mine pretty thick so it would act as a sticky spread rather than a runny dip), added shredded baby spinach, caramelized onions, roasted red pepper strips and rolled the baby up. I stuck a few cute picks to hold it in place, but as it turns out, this sushi box accomodates the rollup perfectly. How's that for multipurposing? I tucked a few steamed peapods on the sides and topped with Okinawan sweet potato heart shapes. There's a strawberry, blackberries, carrots, broccoli, and sliced plum. These plums are nowhere near as sweet as the pluots of last month, but they'll have to do. And if you have been looking at my bentos for the past few years you'll know I never put these in: chocolate covered raisins! I couldn't resist. They fit so perfectly in the chopstick slot. What do you think?

Brown Bear Bento

Brown Bear Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today I made a batch of mixed rice, containing black "Forbidden" rice, brown rice and regular white rice. This combinations ends up looking kind of multihued purple and black. It's nutty and chewy, and really good -- the kids love it too! Anyway, I always think this rice makes a nice bear-colored musubi, so that's what I made.

The bear face is molded by hand using fresh, hot rice, and the facial details are made from tofu and nori. I also baked some wild Alaskan salmon with just olive oil, and then dressed it in Mauna Kea sauce, which I usually use with chicken as in this bento, but which is also good with fish.

For color I added star cut baby carrots and a grape tomato puffy heart (thanks for the idea, hapa bento!)! I also roasted some brussels sprouts and mini sweet peppers. If you crosscut the sprouts, you'll see that they open up and "bloom" during cooking. Sometimes I toss with balsamic vinegar, which saturates them all the way through and they taste fanTAStic!

Fruits include strawberry, red grapes and mini mandarin.
Rawr!

Eggplant Tofu Bento

Eggplant Tofu Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento has stir-fried eggplant and tofu in chili garlic sauce, which I thought for sure might be met with some resistance in the under 7 group, but they both gobbled it up! So in it went to MisterMan's lunch bento, with yellow pepper flower details, purple potato "chips", carrots, broccoli, grape tomato, grapes and a RED apple heart.